A black hole because of the odd gravitational force Jordan Peterson exerts with his uncanny ability to draw people in past the event horizon with his words. For me it was his pronoun warrioring, his anti-communism, his respect for Dostoevsky and Solzhenitsyn, his seeming interest in Christianity, and that he was from Canada, the country where I had spent my formative years. For others it may have been his self-help tripe, or his Jungian archetypes, or his free speech rants, or his rabid defense of men. Others may have been drawn to him out of disagreement and outrage. Regardless of the reason, like a black hole, Peterson possesses strong gravitational effects.
I surmise Peterson is able to pull people in because the manner in which he presents his ideas acts as a kind of mirror. An actual mirror reflects what is placed before it - albeit reversed in the direction perpendicular to the mirror surface, but Peterson's mirroring technique is a little different. He seems to possess a manner of communication that is both exact enough and vague enough to reflect back what the viewer wishes to see rather than what is there. He also has a way of expounding certain thoughts, and then walking them back or tempering them somewhat when he later revisits them. He is extremely conscious of his intended audience, and carefully crafts words to please whomever sits before him. Put simply, Peterson seems to have mastered an almost subconscious form of pandering (all definitions of this final word fully intended).
As mentioned above, I was drawn to Peterson when I heard him ranting on about the dangers of communism. I not only found his words refreshing, but they seemed to reflect my own abhorrence of communism. Then he spoke of Dostoevsky and Solzhenitsyn, and I began to regard him as a kindred spirit. When he gave lectures on the Bible, I presumed he was finding a way of reintroducing Christianity to the secular masses in the West. Yet as the months passed, the reflective surface of Peterson's mirror grew distorted. I began to pay closer attention to what he was actually promulgating and then compared these re-evaluations to an ever-increasing list of his inconsistencies and sophistries. His mirror losts its allure when I attempted to read his 12 Rules for Life, which happened to coincide with the media's initiation of him into the Intellectual Dark Web.
Now if you are a JBP devotee who does not intend to re-evaluate Peterson, peace be with you.
But if you have been dedicating a considerable amount of time to Peterson's work, are well-disposed to what he preaches, but have never really thought about why, do yourself a favor and take a cold, hard, objective look at what might actually be happening as you read or listen to him.
Are you really hearing his words or are you only hearing the words you want to hear?
Keep one thing in mind irrespective of the conclusions you ultimately draw - black holes are peculiar things.
No light escapes them.
I surmise Peterson is able to pull people in because the manner in which he presents his ideas acts as a kind of mirror. An actual mirror reflects what is placed before it - albeit reversed in the direction perpendicular to the mirror surface, but Peterson's mirroring technique is a little different. He seems to possess a manner of communication that is both exact enough and vague enough to reflect back what the viewer wishes to see rather than what is there. He also has a way of expounding certain thoughts, and then walking them back or tempering them somewhat when he later revisits them. He is extremely conscious of his intended audience, and carefully crafts words to please whomever sits before him. Put simply, Peterson seems to have mastered an almost subconscious form of pandering (all definitions of this final word fully intended).
As mentioned above, I was drawn to Peterson when I heard him ranting on about the dangers of communism. I not only found his words refreshing, but they seemed to reflect my own abhorrence of communism. Then he spoke of Dostoevsky and Solzhenitsyn, and I began to regard him as a kindred spirit. When he gave lectures on the Bible, I presumed he was finding a way of reintroducing Christianity to the secular masses in the West. Yet as the months passed, the reflective surface of Peterson's mirror grew distorted. I began to pay closer attention to what he was actually promulgating and then compared these re-evaluations to an ever-increasing list of his inconsistencies and sophistries. His mirror losts its allure when I attempted to read his 12 Rules for Life, which happened to coincide with the media's initiation of him into the Intellectual Dark Web.
Now if you are a JBP devotee who does not intend to re-evaluate Peterson, peace be with you.
But if you have been dedicating a considerable amount of time to Peterson's work, are well-disposed to what he preaches, but have never really thought about why, do yourself a favor and take a cold, hard, objective look at what might actually be happening as you read or listen to him.
Are you really hearing his words or are you only hearing the words you want to hear?
Keep one thing in mind irrespective of the conclusions you ultimately draw - black holes are peculiar things.
No light escapes them.
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